Mundane Moments or Movie Magic

By Robin J. Steinweg –

What if life were reduced to a 90-second movie trailer–the highest moments, best explosions, disasters and funny bits? Would anyone pay money to see it? Would it count for anything?

Let’s see. Born. Dragged by my pony, had to soak the grit off in the tub. Fell in love, married. Hit a deer with the car. Birthed two sons. Gall bladder removed… Wow, even I don’t care to go see it!

So what makes my life count? Certainly not the film-worthy exploits.

I think about what others have done that mattered to me:

*The friend who brought a meal after my dad died—a small thing to her, but huge to me.

*The doctor who, when I was twelve, kindly told me that my wide-set eyes were a sign of beauty—he gave me hope when my peers called me ‘Grubworm’ or ‘Birdlegs.’

*A stranger (a professional musician) who told me in one casual sentence that I was born to make music—and sent me in the direction the Lord wanted me to go.

*Curly-haired, three-year-old Jamie, who hugged my neck the first and only time I met him while waiting in line to see E.T. at a theater—and completely rearranged my heart about wanting a child.

Do these people know that their small, ordinary investments were used by God to change my life?

AUTHOR QUOTE: It’s not the events that create movie magic that matter. It’s the mundane moments—even unintentional acts—performed for others daily, in the name of Christ.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in My name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward” (Mark 9:41 NIV).

A440 for Harmony

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Picture eight to twelve beginning guitar students seated in a circle. I’m teaching my very first group class. They try to tune their instruments all at once. Feeding time at the zoo produces no greater cacophony.

Obviously, this doesn’t work. Their ears aren’t developed enough to tell whether they have a string on pitch or not. Mine is. So I decide to tune each guitar myself. I set my instrument to perfect A440 (the industry standard of 440 vibrations per second for the A above Middle C). I grab the guitar to my left and get it exactly like mine. The next guitar is adjusted to the one I just finished, and so on, until they’re all completed. I have the students play a G chord together. Yikes! It sounds terrible. As careful as I’ve been, they’re still not in tune with each other. What happened? I keep working at it. This one’s right on with that. Now that one’s good with the previous one. I have them play a chord again. Nasty. Finally I figure I’ll use my own guitar as the master. It works! When aligned with the one, all of them are in perfect harmony.

Isn’t it like our God to build spiritual truths into the very physics of the earth? A hundred instruments tuned to each other will not be in accord. But a hundred instruments in unison with one instrument will match up perfectly with each other.

In the same way, God’s children, hearts duplicating those around them, will be in discord. But if our hearts are attuned to the A440 of God’s Spirit, we’ll be in flawless harmony with one another.

PRAYER: Lord, You are the perfect Master I want to be in tune with. Don’t let me conform to others, but let me be transformed by the renewing of my mind—by reading Your Word and spending time in Your presence.

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV).

Hemmed In, Wisconsin to Texas

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I blew through the days like a tumbleweed in a windstorm. Rehearsals and a choir concert for my second-born son were added to my full workweek. After the concert, I packed for my first-ever flight. My husband drove me in the wee hours of the morning to an airport five hours from home, the only flight that would get me to our firstborn son’s graduation.

Before my husband had driven halfway home, I landed a thousand miles away in Dallas, deaf due to air pressure. My son’s friends picked me up and got me to the auditorium fifteen minutes late. David was on stage with the praise band. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas, and I wept for joy. Then time suspended as I entered into worship.

It resumed in the congestion afterward, when David introduced me to more friends at the reception. I had my first meal since the quick PB&J I’d swallowed the day before.

David’s car took us homeward into an electric storm that covered the south of Oklahoma.

Around midnight we found a motel and slept a few hours.

Next afternoon we got as far as Liberty, Missouri, when BAM! The left front tire exploded. David rassled the car to the two-foot shoulder. We unloaded the trunk, picking hoards of local spiders off as we searched for jack and spare. I watched cars race past, barely missing us, and it began to dawn on me through the fog of shock that this was dangerous. As I shrank from speeding traffic, a pickup was forced into the ditch to our right. I called 911. Three squad cars responded, the officers standing in harm’s way to protect us as we waited for a tow. By evening we’d heard enough stories about that corner to be grateful we were still alive.

Home looked good the next afternoon.

Interesting contrasts in two short days. From ground level to 37,000 feet. From hearing to not hearing. From 50 degrees to 94 degrees. From North to South. From harried rushing to timeless worship. From steady, driven activity to sitting in a cramped car for two days. From the safety of an enclosed vehicle to the vulnerability of standing a couple of feet from hurtling metal.

Yet an unseen Hand hemmed us in. We were—and are—enveloped in His love and care.

PRAYER: Lord, whether my life is defined by unending change or unending sameness, You are present. Whether the pace is frenetic or flat, You are near. From my conception You have watched over me. Even to my gray hairs and old age, You’ll carry me. Bless You.

“You hem me in—behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me … Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:5, 7-10 NIV).

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

By Robin J. Steinweg –

My name is Robin J. Steinweg, and I am a closet pouter.

It took reading a post on The Barn Door, a blog started by my friend Lisa Lickel, to wake me up and hear the non-music of my complaints.

I’m cold. I’m hot. I’m tired. I’m hungry. That was too much walking. I don’t get enough exercise. Too much noise! Way too much mess. Too busy. I’ve got nothing to do. Is it snowing again? This computer strains my eyes. My closet is stuffed. I’ve got nothing to wear. You wanna hear complaining? I’m just getting warmed up!

So what was it that started this round of whining? I had a week off from teaching. It’s called Spring Break hereabouts, and many of my students had trips scheduled to warm, sunny places (and had the nerve not to invite their music instructor—go figure). So I filled in the gaps with a schedule of tasks I don’t usually have time for. With more work than usual on my list, I began to feel sorry for myself, a response that crept in from a very warm place indeed. Well, to be fair, the devil shouldn’t get so much credit for my attitude, when my own sinful nature has no trouble grumbling all on its own.

How does God stand me at such times? I can hardly stand myself. In the Old Testament, there are accounts of God so frowning on Israel’s bellyaching, He sent poisonous snakes among them.

I need to face facts—my gripes are a tacit criticism of the day the Lord has made. And shame on me. It’s time for a radical purging of the Big Stink I’ve been putting up. Time for a week of Spring Cleaning. As Henry Ward Beecher said, “An ungrateful heart uncovers no mercies; but if a thankful heart sweeps through the day, it will find some heavenly blessings in every hour.”

QUOTE: “It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” –W. J. Cameron

“Do everything without complaining or arguing” (Philippians 2:14 NIV).

You Put Your Whole Self In…

By Robin J. Steinweg –

“Is this your youngest? He’s so tall! When did he mature so much?”

Startled, I looked at my son through my friend’s eyes. He had grown tall. How had I missed this latest spurt? How long was I not really paying attention? Once I’d had every eyelash, every mole, each dimpled finger memorized; his hairline mapped out; the pitch of his voice was the refrain that wound through my mind like an 8-track loop.

What things had I put my whole self into instead? A novel or a project can capture my focus, so my attention and energy converge to one point. The external world fades. I even forget meals. Most often it’s the pressure of my To-Do list.

Now properly jolted, I reacquainted myself with the features of this young man of mine. I contemplated his choice of words—the things that make him laugh or concern him—listened with care. I saw and jumped on the opportunity to ride with him in the car once a week to his choir and art classes. This had been my free morning; now it was the morning I was free to spend my most precious commodity on him.

Time.

Two captured hours with my son in the car one morning a week until the end of the semester. I’ve been told that I’ve made a sacrifice. Hmm—balance this one on the scales: my son on one hand, a few hours of my time on the other. In terms of sacrifice, I feel as though God has provided the lamb. He has gifted me with an opportunity to “put my whole self in,” as the song goes. My full focus and attention can converge to this one point. The external world can fade. My To-Do list can wait, my son’s maturing won’t.

Seconds expire the same instant they spring up. I’ll put my whole self into these!

QUOTE: “You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.” –James Matthew Barrie

“For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

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